by George Beattie The Dunfermline Foundry Company had its origins in the Maygate, Dunfermline, when, in 1815, Robert Campbell commenced ironfounding on a small scale in the smithy premises of Tam Thomson.1 “Viagraphy Dunfermlynensis” speaks of Fishmarket Close (later known as Music Hall Lane) which ran from Abbot Street up to High Street and states:- “At the corner angle of the east side of this close with Abbot Street there is a house once used as a smithy and, according to a letter written about 30 years ago, ‘This smeddie is notibil as being the first place whair in 1816 a foundrie on a sma skale was begun be Mr Cambil and as the first of the kind ever attempit in Dunfermline.’ Abbot Street, of course, is a continuation of Maygate and both above entries appear to be referring to the same enterprise. Henderson further reports2 that in 1816:- ‘Mr Campbell abandoned his founding premises in the Maygate, and commenced “the Dunfermline Foundry”, in Clayacres, on a large scale. Fifteen hands were employed’. Clayacres was the name given to the area surrounding the street now known as Foundry Street (almost certainly named after the Dunfermline Foundry). The exact location of the foundry is shown on the O.S. map of 1854. Mr Campbell appears to have traded successfully until 1842 when the business ran into financial difficulties, resulting in Campbell being declared bankrupt, with creditors meetings being held in the Spire...
Michael Tod, Engineers
Michael Tod and Sons Ltd., Engineers by George Beattie A native of Kirkcaldy, who spent his early years in the West of Scotland, Michael Tod came to Dunfermline around 1870. Shortly thereafter, in April 1872, he formed a partnership with Alexander Bennett, founding the firm of Tod and Bennett, Millwrights & Engineers, with premises in Foundry Street. It is likely that Messrs Tod and Bennett chose the Foundry Street location because of its close proximity to the Dunfermline Foundry where much of the raw engineering material would be cast. In June 1876, the partnership was dissolved and both men set up millwright/engineering businesses on their own. Mr Tod set up Devon Works, Campbell Street, Dunfermline, where he concentrated on mechanical engineering. By that time Michael’s son, John, had joined the business, which was thereafter known as Michael Tod & Son. John had served an engineering apprenticeship with Alex More & Son in Glasgow. A reference given by Messrs More in 1870 indicated that John had served 3 years in the pattern shop and 2 years as a fitter. In the early days the Tod enterprise built all types of engineering equipment for mills, mines and bleach-works in the area, including steam winding engines, haulages, and pumping and screening machinery for the collieries of the Fife Coal Company and for many of the collieries in the Lothians area. On the death of his father in 1894, John Tod took control of the business which was greatly developed...
The Queen Anne St Fountain
Did You Know… …that an elegant granite fountain used to stand in Queen Anne St? It stood from 1860 to 1924, was given to the town by an Aberdeen medical doctor and shared it’s name with a former village to the north of Dunfermline. The Lassodie Fountain by George Robertson Ebenezer Henderson, on page 682 of his “Annals of Dunfermline”, states the following – “LASSODIE FOUNTAIN – This elegant granite fountain built into the northwest corner Queen Anne Street Church boundary wall has the following inscription cut upon it – Lassodie Fountain. Presented to the City of Dunfermline, by Henry A. Dewar, M.D., Aberdeen. 1860”. In fact the fountain was positioned at the southwest corner of the wall, at the junction of Pilmuir Street and Queen Anne Street, but who was Doctor Dewar and why was the fountain named after an estate – later a coal mining village – situated northeast of Dunfermline between Kingseat and Kelty? Dr Henry Andrew Dewar, a surgeon/dentist working and living in Aberdeen, was a member of the family who, for many generations, were the owners of the Lassodie estate. He was one of the six children of Henry Dewar of Lassodie – also a Doctor – and Helen Margaret Spence, an American from Philadelphia. (1) This explains why the fountain was named after the Dewar estate – but why was it positioned in such a prominent place in Dunfermline? Again, the answer lies with the name Dewar. Dunfermline’s Secessionist Minister, the Rev....
What Happened to the Monks of Dunfermline Abbey?
We all know that during the reformation, the Abbeys were abolished. Much of Dunfermline Abbey is now ruined, but the Church, of course, is still in use. But what about the people involved? What Happened to the Monks by Sue Mowat David Aitken, the Dean of Guild, was worried. It was November 1559 and life around Dunfermline was becoming dangerous for both political and religious reasons. Extreme Protestants, known as the Congregation, who were determined to abolish the Catholic Church, were becoming stronger by the day. In May, inflamed by a sermon preached by John Knox, a band of Protestant zealots had sacked a church, some friaries and a monastery at Perth and since then there had been several ‘reformations’ in the East Neuk of Fife, including one at St Andrews. Noblemen and senior clergy who supported Protestantism had combined to form a body called the Lords of the Congregation which recruited its own troops to oppose those of the Catholic Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, and in July they had occupied Edinburgh and forced Mary to leave the city. In October the Lords had set up their own ‘Great Council of the Realm’. By this time Mary had brought troops to Scotland from her native France and had sent them into Fife to deal with further unrest at St Andrews. The Dean of Guild was particularly concerned about the possible fate of the Holy Blood altar in the parish church, of which the Guild was patron. He was fearful that the altar’s valuable silverware might be plundered...
George Kay and Sons, Coach-builders
by George Beattie Born in 1854, George Kay served an apprenticeship as a coach-builder with the firm of David Doig who had premises in Randolph Street, Dunfermline. In 1881, he entered into a partnership with William Darroch Wilkinson and founded Messrs Kay and Wilkinson, Coach-builders, operating from a small workshop off New Row, Dunfermline. The Dunfermline Trades Directory of 1885 shows Messrs Kay and Wilkinson, Coach-builders, at 8, 10 and 12 New Row. The 1888/89 directory shows that the firm was operating at St. Margaret’s Coachworks, North Inglis Street. Mr Wilkinson was a Glaswegian and he left the business shortly thereafter to start a coach-building enterprise for himself, named Comely Park Coach Works, at 89 Priory Lane, Dunfermline. George Kay, however, carried on St Margaret’s Coachworks under his own name and soon gained a reputation as a master craftsman in the art of building and repairing horse-drawn carriages of the Victorian era such as landaus, broughams, dog carts, etc. In 1912, the firm moved again to larger premises at No. 34 Inglis Street where the business was to operate until 1976, when re-development of that area necessitated a further move to more modern premises in Campbell Street. During the early part of the century George Kay was joined in the business by his three sons, Dick, Jimmy and John. Dick and Jimmy served their apprenticeships as coach-painters whilst John was trained to run the office. Dick, who in later years would play a...